Blackpeak Station (10 page)

‘Five years.’

He whistled. ‘Wow.’

‘What? That’s good, isn’t it?’ She sighed happily. ‘They have to give me a year’s notice.’

Reaching the top of the ridge, they reined in. Below, the tarn sparkled sapphire and black. The sun was hot enough now for the icy water to look inviting.

‘Race you!’ called Charlotte, suddenly kicking Archie down the slope. ‘I won,’ she added, breathless, a few seconds later.

‘Only because you cheated,’ Rob laughed.

‘Run-holder’s privilege.’ She swung down into the grass. ‘I would’ve won anyway.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Come here and say that.’ He pulled her close. ‘You’re sweaty,’ he said, stroking the nape of her neck. ‘Let’s get you out of those clothes.’

‘This,’ said Charlotte much later, water from the tarn drying on her skin as she lay stretched in the sun, ‘is perfect.’ She propped herself up on her elbow, looking down at Rob. ‘A perfect day.’

‘Yeah.’ He ran a finger over the line of her shoulder, following a droplet of water as it made its way down to her hip. ‘It is.’

He rolled over. Getting up, he pulled on his jeans and walked down to the tarn. Charlotte watched him stand at the edge, the snow-covered mountains rising behind him, muscles rippling in his back as he reached up, stretching his shoulders and running his hands through his wet hair. She smiled. That was Flavia’s cover shot right there.

After a few seconds, he turned and came back, sitting down on the rug beside her. She stroked his thigh.

‘I’ve been offered a job in Christchurch,’ he said.

Charlotte removed her hand. ‘What?’ She reached for her shirt.

‘With one of the big firms.’

She stared at him. Rob kept his eyes on the horizon. She didn’t know what to say. ‘Are you going to take it?’

‘It’s a great opportunity.’ He shrugged. ‘It’s where I’ve always seen myself going, I guess. You know, the next step.’

Charlotte was silent. She’d never thought about there being a next step. ‘But—’ She hesitated.

‘But what?’ The blue eyes looked down at her.

‘I thought you liked it here,’ she finished, in a small voice.

‘I do.’ He looked away again.

She hugged her knees. The world seemed to be tilting.

‘Ask me to stay,’ he said suddenly, ‘and I will.’

Charlotte’s breath caught. But how could she do that? If this was his big opportunity, the chance he’d been waiting for, she couldn’t ask him to turn it down. She couldn’t ask Rob to give up his dreams for her. It would be like someone asking her to leave Blackpeak. She could feel the tears rising in her throat, and she turned away so he wouldn’t see them. ‘You should take it,’ she managed, ‘if it’s what you want.’

His voice, when it came, was very soft. ‘I thought you’d say that.’

She stifled a sob.

‘Hey.’ He stroked her back. ‘Don’t be sad. It’s not like we could go on like this forever.’

‘Why couldn’t we?’ She turned back to face him.

‘Seeing each other two nights a week — weather permitting?’ He smiled. ‘I think I might be over fording rivers by the time I’m sixty.’

Sixty? God. ‘Do we really have to think that far ahead?’

‘How long then, Charlie? A year? Five? Will saying goodbye be easier then?’

Charlotte didn’t think it could get much harder. But what was she supposed to say? She couldn’t argue with his logic. ‘I’ll miss you.’

He stroked her cheek. ‘You’ll survive.’ His thumb brushed her lower lip, and lingered there. ‘We’d better get back,’ he said abruptly, dropping his hand and getting to his feet. ‘Before they send search and rescue out looking for us again.’

They rode back to the homestead in silence.

‘Are you staying tonight?’ Charlotte asked when they’d finished unsaddling the horses.

‘Of course.’ Rob turned to her in surprise. ‘Well, I thought I was. Unless you don’t want me to?’

She hesitated. She wasn’t sure she did. It was too sad. But then, Rob going was even sadder. And if he left now, she’d have to explain it to Jen and Kath — she didn’t think she could do that yet. ‘No,’ she said at last, ‘it’d be silly to drive back now.’

Rob raised his eyebrows. ‘Okay.’ He studied her face. ‘You know, I’m not going anywhere for a month or so yet. I kind of thought we’d still see each other until then.’

She pulled herself together. ‘Yeah. Sure.’

‘That’s six more nights,’ he added wryly.

Charlotte tried to summon a smile. Failing, she turned away.
Six more nights
. Then it would be … Oh, God. Then it would be
over
. The weight of it almost made her crumple at the knees. A ton of bricks coming down. The rug pulled out from under her feet. All at the same time. She could feel Rob behind her, only a step away. Those arms she knew so well. Being in them now was the only thing in the world that could make her feel better. She tried to breathe. Oh, it was no use — if she stayed here, she was going to lose it completely. She made a barely controlled dash for the door.

‘Charlie?’

‘I’m just going to check on the dogs.’ Amazingly, it came out sounding almost normal. ‘I’ll see you inside.’

Without waiting for a reply, she strode out for the kennels, the familiar stretch of grass and gravel blurring around her. Behind the bay shed, out of sight of the stables, she leaned back against the iron wall and, pressing her hands to her face, slid slowly down to her heels. The tears trickled down her palms. Rob was right, of course. What had she thought could come of all this, in the end?
Everything he’d said made perfect sense. Why the hell did it hurt this much, then?

‘You idiot!’ said Jen, after Rob had driven away on Sunday night and Charlotte had filled her in. ‘Why didn’t you ask him to stay?’

‘Because this is the job he’s always wanted,’ said Charlotte, startled. ‘I’m not going to stand in his way.’

‘Did he actually say that?’

‘Yes.’ She cast her mind back. ‘Pretty much.’

‘Jesus, Charlie! People don’t say
ask me to stay
if they don’t want to!’

‘Stay for what — two nights a week? He’s right, isn’t he? Our relationship doesn’t exactly have much of a future.’

‘So that’s it, you’re just going to give up?’

Charlotte shrugged. ‘I don’t see there’s anything else I can do.’

‘You could’ — Jen spoke slowly, as if to a small child — ‘try compromising.’

‘How? He’s there, I’m here — it’s not like there’s anything in between. He can’t give up his job.’ She paused, horrified. ‘Are you saying you think I should move to Tekapo? Or Christchurch? What would I even do there?’ The very thought of it — five hundred square metres, a
six-foot
boundary fence — made her feel claustrophobic. And besides — what about Nick, and the Sammartinos? She’d given them her word.

‘I’m saying,’ snapped Jen, ‘that if somebody cared about me half as much as that guy cares about you, I’d move to Iraq for her, if that’s what it took.’

‘Hey!’ Charlotte was stung. ‘I care about you.’

‘Oh grow up, Charlie.’

‘Anyway,’ she defended herself. ‘Rob didn’t ask me to go.’

‘Of course not.’ Jen sighed. ‘He knows you too well for that.’

Charlotte swallowed. ‘I thought you’d understand.’

‘I do.’ Jen picked up their coffee mugs. ‘Better than you, maybe.’ She put a hand on Charlotte’s shoulder as she passed. ‘That’s what makes me so cross.’

Chapter
TEN

The sun was already heating up, though it was still early morning. Charlotte took off her oilskin and, stowing it behind her on the saddle, lifted her shirt collar. Up ahead of her was a sea of swaying backs, shaggy brown and white, eighty heifers making their slow way along the main road. The rich,
grass-sweet
scent of them filled her nostrils. There was the odd bellow from a straggler, paused to snatch a mouthful of grass from the verge, as the dogs dived in to move it on. Otherwise, the cattle’s hooves on the tarmac and their heavy, snuffly breathing were the only sounds in the still air.

Jen rode beside her, but they spoke little, keeping an ear out for approaching vehicles, each engrossed in her own thoughts. They’d started as soon as it was light, hoping to
get the herd through the pass, with its tight, blind corners, and onto Glencairn before any other traffic came along. Now, three hours later, they were almost clear.

Charlotte had been so relieved when Carr Fergusson rang to offer the use of his cattleyards to get their stock away. These two-year-olds were fat and ready to go — she didn’t want to hold them over while she rebuilt Blackpeak’s yards. She and Nick needed all the cash they could get until the Sammartino deal came through.

She fought hard to keep her mind on that, and the road. Not the miserable, sleepless Saturday night she’d spent with her back to Rob, trying not to cry, or the even greater misery of watching him drive away on Sunday. She couldn’t afford to moon around like a lovelorn teenager. And she certainly couldn’t afford to feel this tired and flat. She had a job to do. A station to run and a stud to build. Nick was counting on her. She had to pull herself together.

Her life had been perfectly fine before she met Rob, and it would be again. Hey, it wasn’t as if they saw that much of each other anyway. So what if he was planning a future that didn’t include her? She’d never thought further ahead than his next visit. She hadn’t been looking for a relationship before he came along — not particularly. For God’s sake, she was only twenty-one. Who knew what was around the next corner?

This pain in her chest, it would fade. Of course it would. And all the more quickly the less she dwelled on it. It was like a scraped knee — the more she picked at it, the slower it would be to heal. If she could just put it out of her mind and get on …

The sudden roar of an engine shattered her thoughts. A Range Rover Sport, its red paintwork gleaming, careened into the middle of the mob, stopping just short of one beast
that stood, as if glued, astride the centre line. Terrified, most of the rest of the cattle bolted down the steep verge and into Carr’s boundary fence. The wire tightened, then gave. An arrogant blast from the horn sent the few remaining heifers down the same route.

‘You stupid prick!’ screamed Charlotte, but the Range Rover was gone, rolling alarmingly as its driver accelerated round the next bend.

‘Jesus Christ!’ said Jen furiously. ‘They must be giving out driver’s licences in bloody Weetbix packets again.’

‘What an arsehole.’ Charlotte’s cheeks burned with rage. ‘Come on, let’s get them back up here.’

Letting her horse pick its way down the slope, she shouted angry commands to the dogs running after the fleeing cattle.

An hour later they had most of the heifers back on the road, but Charlotte estimated about fifteen head were still missing, having made good their escape into the steep and scrubby hills. Glencairn’s hills. If the cattle were ever to be seen again, it wouldn’t be until the autumn muster. And in the meantime, she’d have to pay for the repairs to Carr’s fence. Charlotte and Jen continued the drove in furious silence. Yet more stock lost. That was all they needed.

Rex drove down with the horse float to pick them up from Carr’s yards.

‘We’d better go up to the homestead,’ Charlotte sighed, ‘and explain to Carr about the fence.’

‘What fence?’ asked Rex.

‘Exactly,’ said Jen sourly.

Three days later, Charlotte was on her way down to pick up the mail when she saw him. She blinked, wondering if the heat haze coming up from the shingle was playing tricks
on her eyes. But there he was. A man, soaking wet, walking slowly up the road towards the homestead.

As Charlotte drove closer, he stopped and waved her down. She pulled up beside him and opened her window.

‘Hi!’ His voice was full of relief. ‘Look, could you help me? I seem to have got my car stuck in the river.’

Resisting the urge to laugh, she looked him up and down. There was something oddly familiar about him. ‘Why was your car in the river?’ she asked.

‘I, er … I was trying out the four-wheel drive.’ He grinned in embarrassment. ‘I guess it doesn’t work quite as well as I thought.’

The smile did it. God, was it really him? Suit-guy, what was his name — Luke Halliday — from her father’s funeral? He was wet from the chest down, and dust from the road had formed a thick film over his shirt and trousers. But his green eyes were laughing, and as Charlotte stared at him, the look she got back was unmistakably his — one she’d never entirely forgotten.

‘You’d better get in,’ said Charlotte finally. ‘We’ll see what we can do.’

His designer loafers squelched as he walked around to the passenger door. Inside, he stretched out his hand.

‘Luke Halliday. Nice to meet you.’

She took his hand. ‘You don’t remember me, do you?’

His eyes flared in alarm. Boy — why did she get the feeling it wasn’t the first time a woman has asked him that? ‘I’m sorry …’

‘Charlotte Black?’ Nope, nothing. ‘This is Blackpeak. John Black’s property?’

‘God! I’m sorry — of course. Charlotte. I didn’t recognise you.’ His eyes moved over her, as if to make certain it wouldn’t happen again. ‘So this is Blackpeak Station.’

‘It is.’ She smiled sweetly. ‘In fact, you’re trespassing, actually.’

‘Am I? Oh God. I didn’t realise this was private land. I just saw the road, you see …’

Right. ‘And the sign?’ Charlotte’s voice was wry.

He grinned. ‘Must have missed that. Sorry.’

‘Hmm. So what brings you here?’

‘I’ve just had a couple of days in Queenstown and I was on my way back, so I thought I’d try out the new vehicle.’ He paused. ‘Bad move, really. So, all this is your land?’

‘Yes.’

‘You and your brother running it now?’

‘Just me.’

‘Must be a big job.’

‘Not when you know what you’re doing.’ There had been a hint of disbelief in his voice, and Charlotte resented it.

‘No, I suppose not.’

He sounded rebuked, and she relented. ‘So, are you still with …’ She realised she’d forgotten its name. ‘The same company?’

‘Cooper Liddell Sachs. Yes, I am.’ He pointed. ‘The car’s just behind those willows there. I’ll get the gate.’

His car was two-thirds of the way through the river, buried up to the bonnet in water. Charlotte stared at it for a moment in disbelief before her mouth set into a hard line. It was a Range Rover Sport. A bright red Range Rover Sport.

Luke laughed, a little nervously. ‘The sales guy said it’d go anywhere.’

‘I expect it would if you knew what you were doing with it.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘Have a good drive down to Queenstown, did you?’

He looked startled. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t understand.’

Charlotte glared at him. ‘No problems coming through the pass?’

‘No … oh, some idiot had let a whole lot of cattle wander all over the road, and one of them bloody nearly dented the Rangie, but I missed it in the end. Do you think you can tow it out?’

Charlotte’s first impulse was simply to hit him. It took a few moments to wrestle it down. ‘Have you got your cheque book?’ she asked at last.

‘I think there’s one in the car.’ His eyebrows rose. ‘How much is it going to cost me?’

‘Nine thousand dollars.’

‘You’re joking. To tow a car out of a river?’

‘No, for the fifteen head of cattle and one fence you cost us.’

Luke stared at her for a moment before comprehension dawned. ‘Ah. That was you on the road?’

‘That was me.’

‘Oh Christ.’ To Charlotte’s amazement, he began to laugh. ‘I certainly chose the wrong river to get stuck in, didn’t I?’

She glared at him.

‘Oh, come on! I’ll give you your money — once I’ve seen some proof they were really worth that much. But you’ll have to get me out of here first.’

Turning her back on him, Charlotte walked unhurriedly back to the Hilux and tossed him a rope. ‘Have you got a tow bar?’

Luke nodded.

‘Go and tie this to it, then.’

She looked on with grim satisfaction as he waded into the river. The day might be warm, but she knew the water wasn’t.
‘Watch out,’ she murmured under her breath as Luke
disappeared
up to his neck, ‘there could be a hole around there.’

The Range Rover was easily rescued but, with its electrics full of water, flashed a great many warning lights and steadfastly refused to start.

‘I’d better tow you up to the homestead,’ Charlotte sighed. ‘I don’t suppose we can leave you here.’

‘Thanks.’

‘It’ll give me a chance to work out how much you owe us,’ she added maliciously.

Luke smiled wearily. He might be a total idiot, but she did have to admire his cool.

They ground to a halt outside the homestead. Luke slid out of his car with a squelch. Charlotte hoped the leather seats were ruined.

‘Wow,’ he said, looking round. ‘This is quite a place you’ve got here.’

‘You’d better come in.’ Charlotte tried to be brusque, but looking at him standing there, clothes dripping, it was hard not to smile. ‘I expect you’ll want to get changed.’

Kath was waiting expectantly in the kitchen.

‘This is Luke Halliday,’ Charlotte explained. ‘He used to work for Dad. He got his car stuck in the river.’

‘Oh dear, you poor thing,’ Kath fussed. ‘Look at you, you’re soaked to the skin. How about a nice cup of tea? That’ll make you feel better.’

‘Thanks.’ Luke flashed her a jaw-dropping smile. ‘That’d be really nice.’

‘Nick didn’t call, did he?’ Charlotte asked, watching, fascinated, as Kath — what would you call it?
Simpered
?

‘No, not yet.’

She turned to Luke. ‘Come on, I’ll show you where you can get changed.’

As they walked down the hall, the grandfather clock began striking eleven. Luke paused to examine it. ‘This really is a beautiful house.’

‘Thanks. My great-grandfather built it.’

‘Really? So it must be — what, a hundred years old?’

‘About a hundred and twenty, most of it.’ She opened the door to the spare room. ‘There you are. Come back through when you’re ready.’

‘But will I be able to find my way?’ she heard him say, half under his breath, as she closed the door.

Back in the kitchen, Jen had arrived. She looked agitated.

‘Whose car is that outside?’

‘It belongs to one Luke Halliday.’ Charlotte grinned. ‘I found him in the river.’

‘But isn’t it—’

‘Sure is. Our friend from the other day.’

‘What the hell was he doing there?’

‘Trying out the four-wheel drive.’ Charlotte giggled. ‘Luckily, his cheque book was undamaged.’

Jen started to laugh. ‘Boy, he picked the wrong river, huh?’

‘That’s what he said.’

‘So, what’s he like?’

Charlotte frowned. ‘Nice, actually.’ Though on second thoughts, she didn’t think that was quite the right word. ‘He used to be Dad’s financial adviser, believe it or not — I met him once before, when he came to the funeral.’ For some reason, she felt herself starting to blush. ‘Anyway, you can see for yourself in a minute or so — he’s just drying off.’

‘And he’s going to pay up?’ Jen asked gleefully.

‘Yep. Which reminds me — I’d better go print off the receipt from the sale.’

Luke stared at the figures in front of him. ‘How do I know you really lost fifteen cows?’

‘They’re not cows,’ said Charlotte evenly. ‘They’re heifers, and you know because I’m telling you.’

‘Can’t you just get them back?’

‘We can if we muster the tops of Glencairn. Four men, a couple of days of helicopter work. You can pay for that instead, if you like — it’s fine by me.’

‘Okay, okay. Still, fifteen cows — heifers, I mean — only comes to …’ He tapped away on his phone. ‘Eight thousand four hundred and sixty-eight dollars.’

‘You’re forgetting the fence.’ Charlotte smiled
triumphantly
. ‘An even nine grand should do it.’

She was impressed to see that he could still manage a smile — albeit a grim one — as he wrote out the cheque. Most guys would have lost their temper by now, but Luke seemed to be able to field the best she could throw at him with ease. She wondered what it would take to get under his skin.

‘Just out of interest,’ — he looked up and straight into her eyes — ‘what would you have done if I’d refused to pay?’

‘I’d have put your car back in the river, and you could have walked to somewhere your phone would work,’ she said sweetly. ‘That would’ve taken you, oh, I’d say about five or six hours. Then I’d have reported you to my insurance company, and the police for dangerous driving.’